About Deck

COSTA CLASSICA Decks 11 & 12 Deck 11, Capri - Hot Tubs aft and Trevi Piazza/Fountain Pool midship. Deck 12, Ravello - Jogging Track and fwd 'Sun Deck'	COSTA CLASSICA Al Fresco Café - Deck 10, Portofino aft - Lifeboats & Misc
COSTA CLASSICA Trevi Piazza/Fountain Pool, Deck 11 - Capri, decked out for 1001 Nights after departing Abu Dhabi	COSTA CLASSICA Night around the decks

Interiors

COSTA CLASSICA Piazza Navona, Grand Bar - midship Deck 8 Large lounge stretching the width, Grand Bar port & dance floor stb. Central saircase leads to La Tavernetta & Il Dolce Amore	COSTA CLASSICA Puccini Ballroom & others - Aft Deck 9 - Firenze One of the nicest lounges aboard. Portside leads to San Remo Casino. Video Arcade in small area fwd in casino with stb corridor.
COSTA CLASSICA Galileo Disco & Observation Lounge - Deck 14 Cortina A lovely Lounge with fabulous 360 degree views, but the bar does not open until 11pm any night. Quiet for read during the day.	COSTA CLASSICA Colosseo Theater/Theatre/Showroom spans 2 decks Decks 8 Roma & 9 Firenze Fwd almost in the style of a Roman Amphitheatre. Upper tier with mosaic based on designs of Emilio Tadini.
COSTA CLASSICA Tivoli Restaurant - Deck 8 Roma Aft A nice sized room, with table sizes to suit everyone. It does however become exceedingly noisy	COSTA CLASSICA La Trattoria Buffet - Deck 10 Portofino Aft This room is disappointing. Dark & dismal as windows covered by lifeboats. Flooring is wooden in the main area, leading to very high noise levels.

COSTA CLASSICA "Buffet in the Kitchen" Costa Classica's Buffet Magnifico in the Galley. At Midnight. The galley [deck 8 - Roma, aft]	COSTA CLASSICA Reception, Information Area & Atrium - Deck 5 Pisa Very 'cold' area, white marbled floors; stretches 5 decks to glass domed ceiling, Centrepiece is an Arnaldo Pomodoro bronze sculpture.
COSTA CLASSICA Conference Center & Meeting Rooms - Deck 8, Roma midship/port showing a variety of music videos, port lectures, occasionally Holy Mass. 4 meeting rooms open out into 2 larger ones.	COSTA CLASSICA Internet Café, Library, Card Room & Corridor - Deck 8, Roma midship/starboard Sergio Benvenuti's art adorns the corridor to starboard
COSTA CLASSICA Caracalla Beauty Salon, Spa & Fitness Centre - Fwd Deck 11 - Capri Including Deck 11 fwd stairwell. Lovely fwd views, plenty of machines & a relaxation area. No children under 16	COSTA CLASSICA Stairwells, Photo Gallery deck 9 Firenze & Deck 12 'Greenhouse' The endless marble stairwells sound like an indoor swimming pool; lift lobby seemed added as an afterthought [though not].
COSTA CLASSICA Stateroom / Cabin 7084 Standard inside cabin, fairly roomy, minimal storage, comfy beds, good layout with the bunk beds at the end.

Costa Classica Alongside in...

COSTA CLASSICA Port Rashid, Dubai 24 and 30 December 2006	COSTA CLASSICA Mina Al Sultan Qaboos, Muttrah, Muscat 25 December 2006
COSTA CLASSICA Aboard at Fujairah 26 December 2006	COSTA CLASSICA Port Zayed, Abu Dhabi 27 December 2006
COSTA CLASSICA Quay at Port Zayed, Abu Dhabi The Heritage Display, Coaches & 4x4s on the dock 27 December 2006 Other Information

Costa Today 'Dailies'

Bits 'n Pieces

Cruise Information

Aboard Etihad Airways

Dubai 20 - 23 December 2006 staying at the Oasis Beach Hotel, Jumeirah, Dubai 23/24 & 29/30 December 2006 overnights aboard Costa Classica berthed at Port Rashid, Dubai

Dubai - Big Bus City Tour - Blue Route; A great way to get one's bearings	Dubai - Big Bus City Tour - Red Route
Dubai - Views of Burj Al Arab	Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid. A lovely building in the shape of a ship; very clean, neat and functional with all the facilities one expects
Dubai's Skyscrapers & Buildings other than seen on the Big Bus Tour. Who is going to live and work in all these apartment blocks and offices?	Dubai - Madinat Jumeirah An evening vist on 21 Dec & morning visit on 22 Dec 2006 to Souk Madinat. A lovely resort consisting of 2 two hotels and a souk. Also a Spa & conference and banqueting centre.
Dubai - Oasis Beach Hotel on Jumeirah Beach with views of Palm Jumeriah. Make sure you book a sea facing room. Anywhere else a good 4* property, but in Dubai it can't compare with the many 5*+ hotels	Dubai - Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates
Dubai - Speedboat trip [1hr 20mins] from the Oasis Beach Hotel, around Palm Jumeriah to Burj Al Arab/Jumeriah Beach Hotel and back

Muscat

Muscat - En Route to Al Jissah ..from Ruwi. Al Jissah [Jussah] is the home of the Oman Dive Centre & Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort, a beautiful place.	Muscat - En Route to Al Bustan & on to the Old City of Muscat ..from Al Jissah Amazing terrain, especially approaching Al Bustan where we stopped at a 'Look Out' for the views.
Muscat - Natural History Museum, small, but well laid out, packed with information. An interesting tour of Oman's flora & fauna with showcases displaying the country's indigenous species: mammals, insects & birds.	Muscat - Qurum [Qur'm] Beach Starting below the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Al Qurum Heights it stretches for miles. Picnic areas & palms for shades, water sport rentals at city end with hotels; Shati'a Al-Qurum.
Muscat - Qurum [Qur'm] Beach to Ruwi Views along the road from Qurum Beach to Ruwi including a few photos of Ruwi	Muscat - Ruwi Clock Tower On the dash board a box of tissues, each side with a picture I asked if the tower facing me was in Muscat.. Oh yes, the Clock Tower.. so off we went for a detour on our way to Al Jissah
Muscat - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque A most impressive building inaugurated by the Sultan in 2001. The largest mosque in Oman; it can accommodate up to 20,000 worshippers.	Muscat - Views of Muttrah from aboard Costa Classica
Muscat - On the Road from Muttrah to Mosque to Qurum Beach Photos from the taxi driving from Muttrah, towards Seeb, to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque [see separate album] and then back to Qurum Beach. top

Other Ports of Call Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain

Fujairah - Photos from aboard Costa Classica of the city in the distance, port area, back-drop of the Al Hajar Mountains. We took the port provided shuttle bus into the city. I did not take any photos! Slacking:(	Abu Dhabi - Into the City & Back On the road from Port Zayed aboard the shuttle bus to the Khalidiya Centre [Paris Gallery], a few photos of the Corniche
Abu Dhabi 4x4 in the Desert A jeep tour to the Al Khatim Desert the biggest sand dunes in the world. Up to 300m high and constantly shifting. Most of this tour was recorded by a camcorder, see links in album	Manama, Bahrain We took the shuttle bus into Manama. Drop off at the Main Post Office in the city; this is convenient for all the souks.
Port Information Provided by Costa	Port Maps Provided by Costa These are basically useless as give no no idea of distance. What appears to be a 5 or 10 minute walk is actually miles!

Other Ships & Ferries Spotted in the Arabian Gulf

Ferries at Port Rashid, Dubai, 23/24 & 29/30 Dec 2006 - Jabal Ali 2, Jabal Ali 5 - Merdif 2, Merdif 3 - Fadel SAMC - Al Salmy 1, Al Salmy 2 :- NMT Rose, Jumbo Express, Al Shindaga	Other Vessels spotted at Port Rashid, Dubai- 23/24 and 29/30 December 2006
Dream ex Dream Princess, Sundream, Song of Norway laid up at Berth 1 Port Rashid, Dubai after the disastrous 'Gulf Dream Cruise' Karachi/Dubai cruise attempt in Nov 2006 - 23/24 Dec & 29 Dec 2006.	Crown & Poseidon at Palm Jumeriah Both vessels are being used for construction worker accommodation. Crown was berthed to the north & Poseidon to the south, opposite one another on the 'fronds' Dec 2006
Howard's Miscellaneous Ship Photos, taken in Port Rashid aboard Costa Classica and of the Port area 23/24 Dec & 29 Dec 2006	Mina Al Sultan Qaboos, Muscat Including the Sultan's Royal Yacht Squadron, FULK AL SALAMAH, AL SAID, ZINAT AL BIHAAR & AL NOORES 25 Dec 2006
Port of Fujairah - Sea Giant, Lian Sheng Hu, High Peace, Minghai, Imam Ahmadi 10, Nord Viking, Akamas as she sails by, USNS ARCTIC (T-AOE 8) and distant shots of the many at anchor offshore - 26 Dec 2006	Port of Fujairah - Sunrise, Small Vessels & Port Views Boats, Tugs and views of the Port of Fujairah As the sun rises and during the day. Other miscellaneous photos - 26 Dec 2006
Mina Zayed [Port Zayed], Abu Dhabi, Atlantic Trader, Umm Al Anber, Sondos, Chem Bothnia, Niwa, Al Ruwais 27 Dec 2006	Mina Salman, Bahrain CMA CGM Potomac USNS Invincible HMS Blyth HMS Ramsey Svitzer Muharraq USNS Catawba ATF-168 US Army LSV 4 Lt. Gen. William B. Bunker Bahrain Navy Sabha 90; 28 Dec 2006

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